Nashville Flood

Nashville's flood in April 2010 was pretty devastating. Well known areas like downtown and Opryland were completely under water. So were many surrounding areas, including parts of Franklin, where we live. Matt was out of town at a conference in DC for all the excitement. The hard rain went all weekend along with tons of lightning and tornado watches. We didn't leave the house for the days during and afterward. We constantly watched the unbelievable news coverage and spent time in our bedroom closet (our tornado safe spot). The kids even slept in there one night. Luckily, we were high enough to not have many problems, but we knew a lot of people not so lucky. Matt works with another resident who lived in Bellview. They had 5 feet of water in their house and lost basically everything. Matt went a few days to help. I was able to go one day as well. It occurred to me that I should take a picture as we were driving home. Every house there had everything they owned just in trash bags or piles in the front yard. Very sad. Most of the people in the hardest hit areas are still displaced. Downtown Nashville is almost all open again, but the Opryland/Grand Ole Opry/ Opry Mills Mall is still closed and looks like it will be 2011 before anything opens there. All in all, I felt very blessed that we were safe and had no lasting damage!

6 week Bran-Date muffins

We love these with a little butter, honey, or plain. I also add in veg or fruit puree if I have some!

2c boiling water
5t. baking soda
1c shortening (may sub for something healthier)
2c sugar
4 eggs
1 qt buttermilk
5c flour (I use 1/2 wheat 1/2 white)
1T. salt
4c All-Bran
2c Bran flakes
2c chopped dates
1c nuts

Add soda to boiling water, mix, let cool. Cream shortening and sugar. Add eggs, mixing in one at a time. Stir in buttermilk then flour and salt. Add water and soda to mixture. Mix in cereal, etc. Store in covered container in fridge for up to 6 weeks. When ready, spoon into muffin tin without stirring. Bake at 375 for 20 min.

Owen's Curls

Owen has such fantastic curly hair. He gets it from his dad/Nana. Matt and I constantly debate about how long it should be. I like it longer, he likes it shorter. So ultimately we let Owen decide- each pleading our cause. Today he finally sided with his dad and this is the sad, sad result.

Andrew's first talk

April 18th Andrew gave his first talk in primary. His subject was that Christ restored the fullness of the gospel through Joseph Smith. For 5 years old, he was really specific about what he wanted to do. He really wanted to open with a joke (with no encouragement from us- he must take after his Grandpa). The hardest part of preparing for the talk was coming up with a joke that Drew liked. Then he helped us come up with the rest. He memorized most of it for Sunday and did a really great job. Owen was in the audience and helped out with the knock knock joke. Here is his talk-

Andrew- Knock knock.
Audience/Owen- Who's there?
Drew- Saturn.
Audience/Owen- Saturn who?
Drew- Saturnday I wrote this talk!

Drew- When Joseph Smith was a boy he had a question. He wanted to know which church to choose. He said a prayer. Jesus and Heavenly Father visited Joseph Smith. They told him to join none of them. None of them had all of the gospel. Later Joseph became a prophet. He helped restore the whole gospel and the church of Jesus.

Then he bore his testimony. Great job Drew!

Easter

This year for Easter we focus more on the Savior. We tried to talk with the kids about what Christ was doing each day of His last week. The Monday after we also dyed eggs and found eggs as part of family home evening. The kids didn't even miss the Easter Bunny. They really enjoyed acting out the story of Christ's resurrection. We also watched a church movie about Christ's life and resurrection. I think we will do this again next year, and maybe even have a dinner that is similar to what Christ would have eaten. Family traditions are so important- sometimes it just takes a while to form some good ones. We are working on it!

The Nashville Zoo

Suzette was nice enough to invite us to go to the Zoo with her and her girls twice in the last month. The weather has been great and the zoo has a lot of great stuff to do. My boys really liked the atrium where the birds fly all around you, the snake/spider/frogs section with the giant anaconda, petting the goats (our kids were basically the only kids petting the goats with the big horns), and the huge playground. Thanks Suzette!

Quilts for Haiti

Recently our church, along with some other local quilters, came together to make some quilts for the people in Haiti. It was a great chance for me to go and learn a little about quilting, while being able to do some fun service. The boys came with me once during the day and I went on my own at night to help tie them. They turned out so great and I learned a lot about quilting!